Turkish AKP government's military operations in Syria will continue further east until several towns stretching hundreds of miles (km) towards the Iraqi border have been cleared of militants, President Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday.

Speaking at a ceremony for judicial appointments in Ankara, Erdoğan said troops would target the Syrian city of Manbij, as well as Ayn al-Arab, also known as Kobani, and other towns along the border to the east of the Euphrates River. Those areas are controlled by U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces and U.S. troops are stationed there.

He also said Turkey would carry out an offensive against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq if Baghdad does not clear the region of them.